The History of Sumatra | Page 2

Cardon fc.
PLATE 12a. n.2. THE KIJANG OR ROE, Cervus muntjak. W. Bell delt. A. Cardon sc. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 13. n.1. THE LANDAK, Hystrix longicauda. Sinensis delt. A. Cardon fc. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 13a. n.2. THE ANJING-AYER. Sinensis delt. A. Cardon fc. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 14. n.1. THE KAMBING-UTAN, OR WILD-GOAT. W. Bell delt.
PLATE 14a. n.2. THE KUBIN, Draco volans. Sinensis delt. A. Cardon sc. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 15. BEAKS OF THE BUCEROS OR HORN-BILL. M. de Jonville delt. Swaine sc. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 16. A MALAY BOY, NATIVE OF BENCOOLEN. T. Heaphy delt. A. Cardon fecit. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 17. SUMATRAN WEAPONS. A. A Malay Gadoobang. B. A Batta Weapon. C. A Malay Creese. One-third of the size of the Originals. W. Williams del. and sculpt. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 17a. SUMATRAN WEAPONS. D. A Malay Creese. E. An Achenese Creese. F. A Malay Sewar. One-third of the size of the Originals. W. Williams del. and sculpt.
PLATE 18. ENTRANCE OF PADANG RIVER. With Buffaloes.
PLATE 18A. VIEW OF PADANG HILL. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 19. A VILLAGE HOUSE IN SUMATRA. W. Bell delt. J.G. Stadler sculpt. Published by W. Marsden, 1810.
PLATE 19a. A PLANTATION HOUSE IN SUMATRA. W. Bell delt. J.G. Stadler sculpt.
INDEX.
...

PREFACE.
The island of Sumatra, which, in point of situation and extent, holds a conspicuous rank on the terraqueous globe, and is surpassed by few in the bountiful indulgences of nature, has in all ages been unaccountably neglected by writers insomuch that it is at this day less known, as to the interior parts more especially, than the remotest island of modern discovery; although it has been constantly resorted to by Europeans for some centuries, and the English have had a regular establishment there for the last hundred years. It is true that the commercial importance of Sumatra has much declined. It is no longer the Emporium of Eastern riches whither the traders of the West resorted with their cargoes to exchange them for the precious merchandise of the Indian Archipelago: nor does it boast now the political consequence it acquired when the rapid progress of the Portuguese successes there first received a check. That enterprising people, who caused so many kingdoms to shrink from the terror of their arms, met with nothing but disgrace in their attempts against Achin, whose monarchs made them tremble in their turn. Yet still the importance of this island in the eye of the natural historian has continued undiminished, and has equally at all periods laid claim to an attention that does not appear, at any, to have been paid to it.
The Portuguese being better warriors than philosophers, and more eager to conquer nations than to explore their manners or antiquities, it is not surprising that they should have been unable to furnish the world with any particular and just description of a country which they must have regarded with an evil eye. The Dutch were the next people from whom we had a right to expect information. They had an early intercourse with the island, and have at different times formed settlements in almost every part of it; yet they are almost silent with respect to its history.* But to what cause are we to ascribe the remissness of our own countrymen, whose opportunities have been equal to those of their predecessors or contemporaries? It seems difficult to account for it; but the fact is that, excepting a short sketch of the manners prevailing in a particular district of the island, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the year 1778, not one page of information respecting the inhabitants of Sumatra has been communicated to the public by any Englishman who has resided there.
(*Footnote. At the period when this remark was written, I was not aware that an account of the Dutch settlements and commerce in Sumatra by M. Adolph Eschels-kroon had in the preceding year been published at Hamburgh, in the German language; nor had the transactions of a literary society established at Batavia, whose first volume appeared there in 1779, yet reached this country. The work, indeed, of Valentyn, containing a general history of the European possessions in the East Indies, should have exempted a nation to which oriental learning is largely indebted from what I now consider as an unmerited reflection.)
To form a general and tolerably accurate account of this country and its inhabitants is a work attended with great and peculiar difficulties. The necessary information is not to be procured from the people themselves, whose knowledge and inquiries are to the last degree confined, scarcely extending beyond the bounds of the district where they first drew breath; and but very rarely have the almost impervious woods of Sumatra been penetrated to any considerable distance from